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TOP STORIES
In Aleppo, portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin
hang shoulder-to-shoulder with those of his Syrian counterpart Bashar
al-Assad, signalling Moscow's rise at the expense of Damascus's other
ally, Iran. The rivalry between the two primary backers of the Syrian
government is becoming increasingly palpable, according to Syrian
officials and a Russian analyst. Iran is proud to have intervened
early on in Syria's six-year war, bolstering the Assad regime with
men, weapons, and economic aid. But it was Russia, which entered the
conflict with its first air strikes in support of Assad on September
30, 2015, that transformed its trajectory. "Although both
countries support the regime, their strategies on how to defeat the
uprising differ," said a Syrian member of parliament, speaking
on condition of anonymity. The primary divergence is over Turkey, a
years-long rebel backer with which Syria shares its long northern
border.
Iranian pilgrims will participate in this year's annual
hajj, Saudi Arabia said on Friday, after an absence last year during
tensions between the regional rivals. "The ministry of hajj and
the Iranian organisation have completed all the necessary measures to
ensure Iranian pilgrims perform hajj 1438 according to the procedures
followed by all Muslim countries," the official Saudi Press
Agency said, referring to this year in the Islamic calendar. For the
first time in nearly three decades Iran's pilgrims -- which would
have numbered about 60,000 -- did not attend the hajj in 2016 after
the two countries failed to agree on security and logistics. Riyadh
and Tehran have no diplomatic relations, and tensions remain as
Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia repeatedly accuses Iran of fuelling
regional conflicts by supporting armed Shiite movements in Syria,
Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain.
There was a light moment shared at the beginning of
intense talks on Thursday when US Secretary of Defense James Mattis
joked with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, reminding him of
his failed assassination attempt in 2011 when he was ambassador in
Washington. "Hello... always good to see you alive... The
Iranians tried to murder you," Mattis said, as he greeted Jubeir
and other members of the Saudi delegation led by Deputy Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman. Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi Arabia's
defense minister, met with James Mattis at the Pentagon to discuss
the challenge related to Iran's destabilizing regional activities.
SANCTIONS RELIEF
As the global construction industry is facing the most
difficult times ever, domestic construction companies have won 6
trillion won (US$5.3 billion) of deals in Iran in where economic
sanctions were lifted. Daelim Industrial Co. obtained a 2.3 trillion won
(US$2 billion) deal to improve oil refinery facilities at the end of
December last year and signed its formal contract on March 12 (local
time). Hyundai Engineering Co. also clinched a 3.8 trillion won
(US$3.31 billion) project to build a petrochemical producing
facility, and signed its formal agreement in Iran on the same day. In
particular, the project is the largest-ever deal for a domestic
constructor to clinch with a firm in the Middle Eastern country,
Hyundai Engineering announced on March 13 that it signed the formal
agreement worth 3.8 trillion won (US$3.31 billion) with AHDAF, a
subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), in Tehran on
the 12th for the second phase of Phase 12 of South Pars gas field
project, along with Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai
E&C).
South Korea's Hyundai Motors, Middle East and Africa
office director, Mike Song, signed a production agreement with Iran's
Kerman Motors to start production of the Elantra model in the local
firm's Kerman production facility, in the south of the country. The
deal signed in Kerman on March 13 by representatives of both firms.
Saman Firouzi, chief executive of Kerman Motor, said that his firm
will also launch Hyundai Accent production line in September 2017.
"Our target is to employ 10,000 people by 2019," he added.
The company previously agreed with Hyundai at the end of 2016 to
begin production of the Hyundai i10 and i20 hatchback models which are
likely to go on sale following the Iranian New Year.
Iran's state grains buyer GTC purchased about 40,000
tonnes of rice from Thailand in an international tender this week, a
deal which traders believe shows Iran's purchasing is returning to
more normal patterns after sanctions were lifted. Traders said Iran
has in past years largely purchased rice through lengthy direct
negotiations as western sanctions imposed over the country's disputed
nuclear program had curtailed international payments via banks.
"I think this sale in a tender shows Iran is starting to return
to more traditional purchasing patterns after the relaxation of
western sanctions," one European trader said on Friday.
"The sale was made by a U.S. multi-national trading house."
Iran bought Hom Mali grade A rice from Thailand at about 600 euros ($645.54)
a ton, they said. Prices had been sought in euros in the tender.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Speaking in an interview with Lebanon-based and
Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news network on Thursday evening, Zarif
described Israel's policies towards regional nations as vicious,
stressing that Israeli authorities seek to conceal truth and advance
their aggressive plots through the language of threats. "We have
never expected Israel to adopt a peaceful and non-violent approach.
We have got used to Israel's policies over the past years," he
commented. The top Iranian diplomat also reiterated Tehran's
preparedness to offer support and assistance to bring about national
unity among Palestinians, terming the issue as an urgent
"priority" for the Islamic Republic. Zarif then pointed to
the resistance against the Israeli regime's aggressive acts, saying
Tel Aviv's aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip and Lebanon
taught the regime that Palestinian and Lebanese nations are not soft
targets.
MILITARY MATTERS
Iran's navy has announced it will reinforce presence in
international waters in the future thanks to its improving
capabilities, its commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said on
Wednesday. "We will have stronger presence in international
waters, expand the scope of naval exercises, and develop production
of equipment... (in the coming year)," Sayyari was quoted as
saying. Touring around the Khoramshahr Naval Base in southwestern
Iran, Sayyari underlined that the navy now enjoys cutting-edge
military hardware manufactured in Iranian companies. "In the
(Iranian calendar) year 1396 (which begins on March 21), we will take
greater strides in the field of developing the navy's
capabilities," he stated. In November 2016, Tehran announced
plans to create three naval bases and two naval zones on the costs of
Makran, along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman,
what Sayyari characterized as a sea comeback.
SYRIA CONFLICT
There are many indications that the war in Syria is
entering a new and less vicious phase in the uneasy reconstitution of
a "New Syria". Around al-Quneitra, only 60km southeast of
Damascus, however, and particularly along the nearby Golan frontier,
contesting parties are escalating efforts to control the agenda on
the ground and at the negotiating table. It is no accident that the
region bordering the Israeli-occupied plateau from Shebaa to the
Yarmouk has been one of the quietest and less destructive fronts of
the war. Israel's commanding presence in an area that is peripheral
to the interests of the war's major antagonists has muted the war.
The regime, with its regional allies and Russia on one side, and an
opposition of all stripes on the other, have each been more
interested in fighting each other than the Israelis.
Six years into the crisis in Syria, Iran sees the
outcome of the conflict as shaping the new Middle East. It was Iran's
first overt foreign intervention in decades, one that some Iranian
ideologues have called a war for existence. Iranian officials say it
spared the Islamic Republic from having to fight a similar war within
its own borders. Yet it has been costly, draining and merciless in
terms of material losses, and even worse when it comes to Iran's
image in the Muslim world. It has limited Iran's options and has
caused alliances - notwithstanding the common ground Iran shares with
its partners - to seem very shaky and fragile. The source said the
conflict in Syria has not been a traditional war where things can
easily be anticipated: "The mandate was changing from one day to
another. When Iran decided to take part in the war via our military
advisers, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was on the verge of
falling. More than 70% of the country was under [the control of]
terrorist groups who were enjoying widespread international, regional
states' and popular support Today, President Assad has the upper
hand, and the world knows well that he's the only choice for those
who seriously want to defeat terrorism. Yet this is not the final
phase."
SAUDI-IRAN TENSIONS
Addressing worshippers in Tehran on Friday, Ayatollah
Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani said Saudi Foreign Minister Adel
al-Jubeir had better realize that the tyrannical and oppressive
conducts are going to destroy the Saudi regime, instead of accusing
Iran of seeking to eliminate the kingdom. How would the Saudi
monarchs explain the killing of women and children and the bloodshed
they have caused in Yemen in their military campaign, the cleric
asked. He also noted that Saudi Arabia is not the only side to be
blamed, but the international organizations have also lost their
credibility by remaining silent on the crimes committed against
Muslim people in Myanmar, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. The cleric also
reaffirmed Iran's commitment to supporting the oppressed people.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih on Thursday said
relations between his country and the United States have never been
better, and the two nations are fully aligned in confronting Iranian
aggression. The minister made his comments during a visit to
Washington D.C. with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the
young and highly influential royal at the helm of Saudi Arabia's economic
diversification and military. Falih's comments mark a turning of the
page following a rocky relationship between the Kingdom and the Obama
administration, which negotiated an historic multilateral deal with
Iran, Saudi Arabia's chief geopolitical rival in the Middle East.
Falih said the visit solidified the "importance" of the
relationship and allowed for a better understanding with the new
administration on a broad range of issues. Falih also serves as
chairman of state oil giant Saudi Aramco.
DOMESTIC POLITICS
While Iranian conservatives are doing their best to form
a coalition ahead of the upcoming May 19 presidential elections,
parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has thrown his weight behind moderate
President Hassan Rouhani, who is seeking re-election. During recent
months, conservatives have called on most of the prominent
conservative figures and parties to put aside their differences and
reach a consensus over a single candidate for the elections. Many conservatives
say that the presence of more than one candidate will result in
Rouhani's re-election, given that several conservative figures ran
for office in the 2013 vote. Larijani, as one of the conservative
figures who has strongly supported Rouhani during his presidency, has
gradually distanced himself from the conservative camp, which is now
controlled by hard-liners, and he has joined the moderation camp as
one of its prominent figures. While some expected Larijani to join
the conservative coalition - the Popular Front of Revolutionary
Forces, or JAMNA - formed late last year, he did not.
OPINION & ANALYSIS
If the Trump administration is serious about taking on
Iran in the Middle East it must transform its strategy in Syria for
fighting the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS).
Our current strategy will only continue to strengthen Tehran's
grip on the region. The US needs a new approach that gives it the
independence and leverage it needs to begin pushing back
successfully. It won't be easy. The strategy the administration
inherited from President Obama sees Iran as a partner in the
fight. The U.S. has therefore done nothing to contain the
dramatic and alarming Iranian expansion of military power in Syria.
Yet the expansion was avoidable. Tehran had used Syria as a base for
Lebanese Hezbollah, HAMAS, and its own subversive activities for
decades at no cost. The 2011 uprising against Syrian President
Bashar al Assad was a blow to its position. Therefore Iran
rushed to support Assad, sending in special Qods Force operatives,
then advisors from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
Reports indicate remnants of President Obama's Iran
policy team in the State Department, known for its penchant for
appeasement toward Tehran, have maintained a presence, albeit
residual, in President Trump's administration. This issue is of
special concern as these individuals have a history of close ties to
the regime in Tehran and a notorious Iranian lobbying group in the
United States. Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, who formerly served as the Iran
director of the National Security Council during Obama's tenure, has
managed to find herself a position in the administrative team working
under Trump. While enjoying access to the White House in the past,
Nowrouzzadeh is now head of the State Department's policy planning
staff focusing specifically on Iran and the flashpoint Persian Gulf
region which Tehran has used as a stage recently to raise tensions
with Washington.
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